TWO of Burnley's most promising young stars have agreed new Turf Moor contracts.

I can reveal today that striker Andy Cooke and tricky midfielder Paul Smith have both said yes to new deals before tonight's Division Two assignment at Watford.

Cooke has agreed a further two years on his existing contract while Smith has signed up for a further year.

"They are two young players who have earned that reward because they've worked hard at their game over the past year," explained manager Adrian Heath.

"They've both improved individually. Now they are both part of my first team squad plans. They are promising young players who have a good future in the game."

Cooke was plucked out of League of Wales football when Jimmy Mullen signed the centre-forward from Newtown in a £30,000 deal 18 months ago. The striker has impressed both Heath and assistant John Ward while the Clarets chief has put his faith in 20-year-old Smith, giving him an extended run in the Burnley first team since the middle of September.

Heath, meanwhile, has told his squad that he expects a major improvement at Vicarage Road after Burnley's dreadful show at Rotherham.

"Collectively we were simply not good enough at Rotherham and I'm looking for a 100 per cent improvement tonight," said Heath. "We just should not be turning in performances like Saturday's.

"Watford is our biggest test of the league season so far and I'm looking for a positive reaction from my players.

"Maybe I've been a bit too loyal with one or two of them. Maybe I have more problems than I think and it's time to change some of the personnel in the squad."

"I know, deep down, that we can go to Watford and get a result. But we'll have to improve. They'll have to stand up and be counted tonight otherwise we'll get blown away.

"We played far below expectations against Rotherham. I've said before that we aren't that good a team to play at 50 or 60 per cent potential. "We have to play to our maximum. If we don't, and that's what happened at Rotherham, then we won't win games.

"The players know the score. There has to be a marked improvement at Watford."

Heath would not reveal if he was considering making any team changes in the wake of the Millmoor debacle, and was expected to delay naming his line-up.

Burnley from: Beresford, Parkinson, Eyres, Harrison, Winstanley, Overson, Weller, Smith, Nogan, Barnes, Gleghorn, Cooke, Brass, Matthew, Hoyland, Swan, Russell (GK).

Watford from: Miller, Gibbs, Ludden, Johnson, Millen, Palmer, Dazeley, Andrews, White, Penrice, Mooney, Wiliams, Page, Chamberlain.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.